Pro Patient Minute: How ObamaCare Harms the Most Vulnerable

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan recently spoke about how the nation’s safety net programs are harming the poor. “In this war on poverty, poverty is winning,” he said. “We deserve better.”

We are very concerned that ObamaCare will make problems worse, not better, for the poor, for seniors, for children, and the uninsured. We offer below our Galen Guide that explains how ObamaCare would impact the most vulnerable Americans.

Please feel free to circulate this to friends, family, and associates who need to know the truth about ObamaCare. The entire series of Galen Guides is available here.

How ObamaCare Harms the Most Vulnerable

ObamaCare’s first and deepest impact will be on those who need health security the most — those who are poorer, sicker, and older.

THE POOR

The health overhaul law will make it more difficult for lower-income Americans enrolled in Medicaid to get care by overloading the program. The sickest of those on Medicaid today will have an even harder time finding a physician to see them.

SENIORS

More than 12 million seniors have selected the popular Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, and 7.4 million are at risk of losing their coverage because of ObamaCare’s $156 billion in cuts to the program. According to the Congressional Budget Office, MA will be cut by $308 billion over the next 10 years: $156 billion in direct cuts to the program and $152 billion in indirect payment reductions from the interactions with the other cuts contained in the health overhaul law.

Those attracted to these Medicare Advantage plans, which provide more comprehensive medical coverage, are disproportionately lower-income and minorities who do not have the resources for expensive Medigap insurance or access to supplemental retiree coverage from their previous jobs. They will be hit hardest by these deep cuts to the program.

CHILDREN

DEPENDENTS

Those who are on a breadwinner’s policy today could lose their coverage and not be eligible for coverage in the Exchanges. Families with the greatest health needs will have the most difficult time getting coverage.

THE UNINSURED

The evidence shows that the most vulnerable citizens will be harmed the most in this massive expansion and restructuring of our health sector — all while spending $2.6 trillion we don’t have while putting overhauling our health sector and robbing us of our freedom.159 new bureaucracies in charge of health care decisions.

We do need health reform, but we must make changes in ways that protect, not harm, those who are most vulnerable.